The recent disclosure of reams of classified diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks has sparked outrage among leaders on both sides of the aisle in Washington, outrage that may negatively impact the gathering and dissemination of the news. There are already...(read more)
North Carolina Superior Court Holds State Shield Law Protects Identities of Newspaper Website Commenters
On July 27, 2010, N.C. Superior Court Judge Calvin E. Murphy ruled from the bench that North Carolina’s shield law, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8-53.11, protects a newspaper from the compelled disclosure during judicial proceedings of the identities of...(read more)
Federal Shield Law Clears Senate Panel
After weeks of debate , the Senate Judiciary Committee today amended and passed the proposed federal shield law on to the full Senate for consideration. Even with this important step, it is unclear when the full Senate will vote on the measure or...(read more)
Judiciary Committee to Consider Compromise Federal Shield Bill
The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated this week to take up compromise language on the Free Flow of Information Act of 2009 (S. 448) , endorsed by Attorney General Eric Holder , which may finally result in passage of a federal shield law. As we...(read more)
Shield Law Sent to Texas Governor
As we reported last week, both chambers of the Texas legislature unanimously passed a shield law giving journalists qualified protection from disclosure of their sources and other confidential and non-confidential unpublished information collected...(read more)
Texas Governor Signs Shield Law
Texas is on the cusp of parting company with the minority of jurisdictions that offer no statutory protection to journalists who receive subpoenas. As we have discussed in a previous post , most states have enacted laws that create a least a...(read more)
Federal Shield Bill Introduced Again in Congress
After a number of years in which proposed federal shield statutes have stalled in Congress, news media interests are optimistic that this time will be the charm. Last week bills were introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate...(read more)
Wins and Losses in Effort to Expand Shield Protections
The invaluable Media Law Resource Center recently released a report detailing state efforts to pass shield laws in the past three years. According to the report, because of the high-profile contempt arrests of reporters James Taricani in 2004 and...(read more)